Death Metal seems to be going through some sort of mass resurgence at the moment and is proving very popular as a crossover with the Hardcore community, which itself is absolutely booming right now. Personally as a miserable old Death Metaller these eras of the genre send a chill down my spine, I’ve endured Deathcore and now is the Hardcore age. Alas, as always these eras do bring some great bands to the forefront, and one such band riding the hype train of late is 200 Stab Wounds. Their 2021 debut Slaves To The Scalpel has received much (very justified) praise and now it’s time for their second album Manual Manic Procedures, put out through Metal Blade.

The haunting intro of Hands Of Eternity gives off a sort of late 80s B-Horror movie vibe that I totally dig. It gently lures you into the big chunky riffs, pounding drums and clunky, raw as hell bass. Then in comes the vocals, which are akin to peers Frozen Soul. Giving off a more Grind heavy sound is Gross Abuse, a quick crusher that makes me think of Surgical Steel Carcass in its rapid delivery, don’t worry though there is still plenty of time for those big 200 Stabs chugging riffs. The title track comes next and really hammers home that devastating heaviness. I mentioned chugging earlier, and I don’t mean that in a weak Deathcore sense, more a barbaric, brutal manner. This song has all that and more with some excellent almost Punk style riffage and thundering drumming.

Bridging the gap in expert fashion is Led To The Chamber/ Liquified which embraces some of those themes found at the very start of the album, mystery and instrumental brilliance and works strangely well for such a savage release. Flesh From Within whips back into action with further devastation, honestly this album really feels like it pushes you all over the place, it’s a wild ride. There is this delicate addition of dare I say very minor Melodic Death at the start of Defiled Gestation, more an influence really and only brief but it works really well. It’s just the sort of song that proves 200 Stabs are more than just chug chug Death Metal. That said when those crunchy riffs come in it’s bone splitting and I kind of love this bands emphasis on sheer heaviness. Then comes one of the albums only missteps, Ride The Flatline, an otherwise great track save for the addition of some occasional more Hardcore tinged vocals, no thank you, more gutturals please. Parricide gets things back on track however for a solid album closer.

So if you like simple as it comes, plain as plain Death Metal then you’re going to love Manual Manic Procedures. I really like that 200 Stab Wounds don’t try to reinvent the wheel. It truly feels like this band at the forefront of a lot of modern Death Metal are just bringing the sound to a new generation. Gatecreeper we’ve seen go a bit more melodic so they have that covered, Frozen Soul have Bolt Thrower covered and 200 Stabs just seem to praise the bare bones of Death Metal itself, and they do it extremely well.

(8/10 George Caley)

https://www.facebook.com/200StabWounds

https://200stabwounds.bandcamp.com/album/manual-manic-procedures